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The keyboardless Office: a review of iWork for iPad

Can the iPad be a legitimate work machine? And if it can, is Apple's iWork for …

The validity of the iPad as a casual device—something you can use to check your e-mail, surf the Internet on the couch, or watch a movie in bed—has never really been in question. The real question is, "Can I convince my boss to buy me one?" Unless your boss is Michael Scott, chances are he’s going to want to know if you can actually be productive with it. With its port of the iWork desktop suite, Apple is hoping that you can be, and that the iPad can be more than a toy.

“I’m an importer/exporter.”

iWork for the iPad wouldn’t be of much use if you could create documents only to have them constrained to the device. Fortunately, Apple has included import and export functionality; unfortunately, that import and export functionality isn’t very good. There are three import/export flavors to choose from, multiple formats, a cable, and an application that is already asked to do too much.

When it comes to importing and exporting, your best bet is e-mail. You can import Word and Pages documents into Pages, Excel and Numbers documents into Numbers, and Powerpoint and Keynote documents into Keynote from any e-mail you receive.

Exporting through e-mail, on the other hand, isn’t as flexible. You can export a Pages document as a Pages document, a Word document, or a PDF; a Keynote presentation in the native format or a PDF (PPT format is inexplicably left out); and a Numbers document in Numbers format or as a PDF (no XLS exporting). While the choices would be excellent if all our colleagues used iWork on a Mac, the majority do not. So the suite's e-mail export functionality is lacking, which is sad, because it’s the best option. If you need to make a few quick changes to that Excel spreadsheet that your colleague sent to you and then send it back to her quickly, you'll have to send it back in Numbers format and hope she can do the conversion on her end.

The second option for importing and exporting is Apple’s iWork.com. To work on a document that's on iWork.com, you have to download it in Mobile Safari, prompting the device to open it within the application. This wasn’t immediately clear to me at first, as I thought that it was only possible to view a document stored in the iWork service on the iPad through Mobile Safari. It wasn’t until I read our complete iPad review that I realized you could download and edit the whole document.

Exporting to iWork.com after you've made your changes is straightforward—you simply choose iWork.com from the export dialog from the main menu of any of the iPad applications. The export also lets you send e-mail notifications of what document is being shared, as well as a URL to the document. In a perfect world, you would just load an iWork share similar to a MobileMe drive, but the service is in beta, so there may yet be hope.

One nice thing about iWork.com is that PC users can download documents from the service in a format that they can actually read and write, which means that it's less difficult to collaborate on documents with Microsoft Office users.

The third and final import/export option is what Apple calls "file sharing." You need a computer with iTunes installed, an iPad (of course), and perhaps most irritating, a USB-to-dock connector cable. The whole experience of tethering the iPad to the computer really brings back memories of connecting two machines via a null modem cable to play Warcraft in 1996.

To import a file, whether a PPT, Keynote, Excel, Numbers, Pages, or Word document, you must first plug your iPad into your computer, open iTunes, go to the "Apps" tab, scroll to the bottom, select the application you want to send a document to, and then choose the file from an open dialog box. Once you're done with that, you go back to the iPad, go to the "open a document" screen in any of the three apps, tap on the folder icon on the upper right-hand corner of the screen, and then select the document you want to import. It really is like magic(k)! I’m no marketing expert, but Apple may want to stay away from the phrase “There is no step 10!” in the advertising materials.

Exporting is done in much the same way, but in reverse: you select a menu option from within the app that lets you export via file sharing, then you connect the iPad to the computer, open iTunes, open the Apps tab, scroll to the bottom, find the document you want, and finally drag it into a folder on your computer. You can then open the document on your desktop or laptop computer.

The whole "file sharing" process is obviously just another step towards iTunes replacing the Finder. Why can’t I do this over Bluetooth or WiFi? Why doesn’t the iPad just mount on the desktop like a drive? In Apple’s attempt to make this as simple as possible for everyone, they have made it excruciating for those who know what they are doing, and inexplicably difficult for those who have no clue.

Importing and exporting across formats is basically what you would expect. Some formatting is wrong, errors crop up, but the majority of the content is there. There are, however, certain features that just aren’t supported in the iWork for iPad suite. During our testing, we ran into issues importing across applications, but also when importing from the desktop version of the software to the iPad version. Some of the errors we ran into stemmed from the iPad app's inability to group objects, and we also saw some table-related issues. If what you're doing is mission-critical, you must check formatting and errors before presenting an end product, and remind yourself this isn’t the same iWork suite you're accustomed to on the Mac.

108 Reader Comments

I just bought the Apple Wireless Keyboard this past weekend, for my iPad specifically, and have to say that this combo is pretty freakin' sweeeet, and basically answers the question of how to accomplish more long-winded typing on the iPad than the built-in touch-keyboard. As big/heavy as a laptop, even with the pair? No, not even close -- even the iPad plus keyboard are at least as small and light as your average netbook, if not smaller and lighter (remember, the Apple Wireless Keyboard is REALLY thin and REALLY light, and REALLY good to boot!)

Now, I just need to find a solid messenger-style bag that happily accommodates the iPad in its Apple case, and the Apple Wireless Keyboard, and I will be in mobile computing heaven!!! While a Netbook may be the better option for some people, I can safely say that THIS combo is better for me.

Review fail. Doesn't mention the *big* caveat when using Keynote for a presentation: no presenter view on the device. This leaves the presenter stuck either unable to see his/her slides or having to talk to the screen the whole time.

Did you even bother to use the thing for a real presentation before you wrote it up?

Now I'm really looking forward to a review of OmniGraffle on the iPad. That looks much more interesting (I've done a bit of on-the-fly process mapping, and would've killed or at least injured someone for that on an iPad back then).

That's a bit harsh, don't you think? The reviewer discussed many downsides already. The lack of a presenter view is not as big a deal as you make it out to be. Especially in relation to the other shortcomings of the suite.

I've been playing with my friend's iPad, and he has Pages and Keynote installed. I STILL haven't figured out how to select text; I've only ever done it on accident. That's pretty much my only complaint. What's the secret?!

I've been playing with my friend's iPad, and he has Pages and Keynote installed. I STILL haven't figured out how to select text; I've only ever done it on accident. That's pretty much my only complaint. What's the secret?!

That's a bit harsh, don't you think? The reviewer discussed many downsides already. The lack of a presenter view is not as big a deal as you make it out to be. Especially in relation to the other shortcomings of the suite.

What concerns me is that the reviewer doesn't touch on any of Keynote's weaknesses. Keynote gets a rather glowing "review" (if you can call it that, considering that there's no analysis besides a little blurb about it being "decent"; the rest of the review tells me nothing I couldn't get out of the Keynote Guided Tour video on Apple's website). The reviews of the other two apps and of the syncing experience are more critical, but Keynote's reads almost like an advertisement.

Unless you've start the app in landscape orientation and switch to portrait while the "Choose a Template" screen is up. Then there's only 15 (the 16th is invisible, but can be selected if you tap its empty space). Odd little bug there (that I just found when counting the templates )... can anyone reproduce it?

IMHO iWork really seems like a public beta. It has a lot of promise, but a lot of rough edges.

Instead if Pages, I just use evernote as a text editor and word processor. I then just sync the note and copy and paste into word or pages for final editing and formatting. Evernote OTA sync is FAR superior to the way apple has sync set up.

I also hope google docs allows editing soon. To me this will be the killer iPad app.

Also text entry on the iPad takes a bit of patience to get used to. The keyboard is laid out a bit different than a regular keyboard and you also have to learn to rely in auto correct with your eyes up, not on the keyboard. The keyboard autocorrects for chording very well, but you just have to understand it in use before you are comfortable with it. Mostly this means typing through errors instead of correcting them immediartely and letting autocorrect fix it from analyzing the chording.

You don't need arrows and a mouse, you just need to understand press and hold and how to double tap. Again it is way different, and once you get the hang of it it works well, but is completely aggravating until you get it. The first week i had my iPad, i wanted to throw it across the room anytime I typed an email. Now that I am used to it, I can actually type at 50-75% my normal rate. It is only good for short stuff, nothing long, but once learned works well considering the weight savings.

Following your steps on my iPad shows the sixteenth template ("Flyer") as the only item in a sixth row with its proper document preview.

This is Numbers, not Pages. I can reproduce it consistently like this:

* Open Numbers; if a document is open, close it (return to the "My Spreadsheets" screen).* Close Numbers.* Rotate the device to landscape (with rotation lock off, obviously).* Open Numbers. Tap the Add button and tap "New Spreadsheet". The templates list will come up in landscape orientation with four rows of three items.* Rotate the device to portrait (right-side-up). The templates list should rotate. You should now have a templates list with 4 rows of three items each, with enough empty space at the bottom for two more rows (I miscounted here earlier; you can see 12 items here, not 15). Tapping the empty space where an item should be will open it; the bottom row only has one item (since there are 16 templates total).

Unfortunately, I have to agree that not mentioning the nature of presenter view is a big omission for this particular device.

It's very likely that updates for iWork will come around soon. OS 4.1 in the fall will most likely be the clear response to the complaints about file transfer and keyboard layout (no arrow keys is said, but the OS doesn't seem to globally support them either).

The whole experience of tethering the iPad to the computer really brings back memories of connecting two machines via a null modem cable to play Warcraft in 1996.

Brilliant. Maybe I'm getting the wrong takeaway message, though; it makes me a little nostalgic for the good old days.

I agree with shakenmartini that this thing looks like a public beta. Unfortunately iWork on the Mac isn't that much better, at least for Pages and Numbers. Those are some seriously feature-incomplete programs.

I think, with the right interface design, touch can be a valid interface for office document work. I think iWorks is not there at all. It tries to be too "easy" while just making itself more complicated.

When I see those Microsoft Courier demos, I think that is closer to the type of interface that business apps could utilize. It is definitely more complex, so the learning curve is steeper. Yet it seems, just like using a mouse, once you get used to the new lexicon of gestures then you productivity will go much higher.

Also, onscreen keyboards are nice, but I am sort of bummed that the iPad did have native stylus support with killer handwriting recognition.

Will anyone who has a choice of this and an eeepc t91 ever use this instead?No.

Will anyone who has access to a desktop ever use this instead?No.

Will anyone who has access to a DROID or iphone 3gs ever use this instead?No.

Or am I missing something? I mean, the fact that you _can_ do all of these things is really quite nice, don't get me wrong. But if this is worse at it than everything else that is outthere because it doesn't have as good connectivity, isn't as well versed in format compliance, and isn't as powerful...shouldn't you make that clear? That you don't see yourself using this ever again for anything work-related? =P

And yes, I get that if you bring a keyboard, it's different...but then, to me, that's much less elegant than a villiv S7 for instance, which does it all on it's own.

I'm quite interested in getting an iPad for general internet use, but I'm really struggling to see just who iWork is going to appeal to with all its flaws. One of my co-workers is getting quite excited about Keynote for giving lectures with, but in all other respects he prefers his Linux desktop.

This is completely mad. We all know ordinary users of smaller laptops and desktops. How they transfer files is with usb sticks. It works, its one step drag and drop. Sometimes they plug in their player or phone or camera into a usb port, and it has usb disk mode. Simple.

Here, for the sake of control, and forcing the user to use software which is completely unecessary for the purpose, they've made it just about unusable. No-one who is used to drag and drop from usb sticks is going to either connect up to a docking station to get a usb port - the very idea is insane - or start emailing files to their desktop or to their grandmother's machine in the same room.

Then we have a word processor which is more or less incompatible with the same named one on Apple desktops. And one which does not support any of the standard stuff that any text editor has done flawlessly for years, like select, cut and paste.

And everyone is cheering and saying its the future of computing? This was the most amazing review I've ever read on Ars. Partly because of what it reveals about the product. But also because of what it did not say. Imagine this thing had been released by MS. Email word files to your desktop, find that compatibility with word on your desktop is limited, find that you cannot select, cut and paste, and are obliged to use some idiotic MS transfer package over the net to move your files around. No usb ports because Bill doesn't like them this year....

Ars would be all over it, and so would everyone else. But because its Apple for some reason, they just accept it, and the acolytes all cheer about how wonderful this crap is. Amazing.

What I'm most concerned about is that mobile iWork destroys your documents (Keynote, Pages, Numbers; all of them) on import. I understand that mobile iWork can't provide all the features of the regular iWork suite, but then PLEASE leave my documents intact! QuickOffice and Documents to Go can do that, even on a Blackberry, so we all know it's feasible. Of course it requires some extra magic, but still...As an INTERIM solution, maybe regular iWork could provide a "compatibility mode" where you're only allowed to produce documents that are FULLY compatible with mobile iWork.

Furthermore, because the iPad would make such a great presenter device, Keynote should at least be able to SHOW all regular Keynote presentations. Presenter View is one thing, and I really hope mobile iWork will include one in version 2.0, but that doesn't take you anywhere if your presentations don't look the way they were created. If this is still expected too much, then PLEASE let (regular) Keynote have an export option to produce a stand-alone version of its presentations for the iPad. I mean, PowerPoint has had such option for stand-alone presentation (to run on other PCs only, admittedly) as long as I can remember.

What surprises me about the import/export options is that usually Apple holds back features until they've found a good user interface for it (see copy&paste, see multitasking). The current import/export solutions on the opposite look like being slapped on with no thought and time for a good implementation. I desparately hope Apple currently puts a lot of manpower into the implementation of some sort of wireless background sync which not only works for iWork documents but also for everything else that currently needs ancient iTunes and USB for sync. Both on the iPad (and of course all other iDevices) and on my computer I should be able to mark docs, music, videos etc. for syncing, and next time the computer and the iDevice are in the same WLAN it should start syncing. WITHOUT a special trigger such as starting a sync app, ie similar to Mail. The last part is the one where all third-party sync tools currently fail (due to restrictions on background apps imposed by Apple).

A similar kind of syncing is also required for any kind of (newspaper, magazine) subscriptions. Please don't expect me to fire up my Mac, wake my iPad, plug in the iPad, start iTunes, wait until it recognizes the iPad, switch to iPad view, select apps/subscriptions or whatever and press sync in the morning before I had my coffee just to download my daily newspaper. If it's as cumbersome as this, I'd rather drive downtown and get me a paper version. Subscribed content (1) must not require a computer do download (2) must not require any user intervention to download and (3) must occur in the background.

Regarding the review: I agree it's a little sub-par compared to other Ars reviews. Only the part on the import and export options can be considered a review rather than a description.

Is anyone seriously going to stand up and present whilst holding a large iPad? I've used my iPhone a few times with the incredibly neurotic Keynote Remote (an awful piece of Apple software if ever there was one, loses connectivity frequently and doesn't like being on an ad-hoc network from my MBP) and even that feels a bit too big.

Anyway, I'm not surprised by the review.

Keynote is okay. Pages and Numbers are rubbish. Just like the actual iWork suite itself. What's that? You want a live spreadsheet from Numbers in Pages? Erm... Look over there! Apple's legendary ease of use!

Some formatting is wrong, errors crop up, but the majority of the content is there.

Anyone who has actually collaborated on work documents will know that this is a crippling problem. Going with your "make a few changes on a plane" scenario, let's say you make the three changes, but then you have to spend 2 hours fixing formatting issues that came up when you imported the documents from a different format. You've wasted more time fussing with the document than if you had done edits with pen and paper and inputted them later.

I fail to see the productivity potential of a device that doesn't work seamlessly with Windows files and Office. It seems to be made worse by the fact that doing basic things like getting files on and off the device is a pain in the arse. Having to tether the device by cable and use the abomination that is iTunes just to get one file onto a desktop? Sounds real productive to me. This article has changed my mind about the iPad but only to make me even more sure that I don't want one.

Maybe it's finally going to dawn on the world what should have been obvious from the beginning: multi-touch is really great for scrolling and panning, and pressing big buttons on simple interfaces, but for doing actual productive work it simply doesn't cut it.

A stylus or a keyboard are better input devices for anything requiring text entry and productivity. The iPad can only ever be a media consumption device due to the limitations of its input method.

... But of course, since the Office team is allowed to do whatever it wants, it'll never get better. If the Office team sees no point in, say, a touch-friendly version of Office, they won't do it, even if the Windows team believes that it's a strategic necessity. ...

Can we say that, despite their shortcomings, version 1 of the iWork apps for iPad are better than the touch version of Office?

I don't see this as a content creation device (with the exception of drawing/art which I'll get to in a moment), it's more of a content consumption device. Movies/Music/Books/Websites and some games. Want to write your novel? Use your desktop or laptop. Want to read someone's novel? Use the iPad.

Now, as far as drawing/art, I think this has a lot of potential. At the moment, we're only experiencing the equivalent of finger painting...but I can see someone developing a blue-tooth pressure-sensitive stylus to use for drawing that a simple finger just can't do. I'm sure someone is working on that right now.

The 2 really surprising horrible parts are that you have to sync to transfer and that formatting gets screwy even iWork to iWork. Usually, I transfer on a USB drive so that I can print from a desktop PC in a library or something; iTunes wouldn't be feasible at all in that common case. Re: the 2nd issue, I wonder if interoperability between Office for Windows and Office for Mac are better than iWork now.

Also surprising but only related to this review: it doesn't appear that you'll be able to hook it up for a presentation & charge it at the same time. You better be sure you charged it before hand, I guess!

Lastly, for productivity in general, it doesn't look like you can scrapbook documents, web pages, and so on for a project (systemwide Evernote- or Onenote-type journaling). I find this lack of functionality weird, because the iPad could be such a great device for research.

... Also surprising but only related to this review: it doesn't appear that you'll be able to hook it up for a presentation & charge it at the same time. You better be sure you charged it before hand, I guess!

Ten hours of video playback ... are you planning a presentation or a filibuster?

instantrunoff wrote:

... Lastly, for productivity in general, it doesn't look like you can scrapbook documents, web pages, and so on for a project (systemwide Evernote- or Onenote-type journaling). I find this lack of functionality weird, because the iPad could be such a great device for research.

'systemwide' might not gell with the Finder-less OS, but there's an app for that ...

Maybe it's finally going to dawn on the world what should have been obvious from the beginning: multi-touch is really great for scrolling and panning, and pressing big buttons on simple interfaces, but for doing actual productive work it simply doesn't cut it.

A stylus or a keyboard are better input devices for anything requiring text entry and productivity. The iPad can only ever be a media consumption device due to the limitations of its input method.

Wasn't Jobs recently quoted as saying that if a device has a stylus "they blew it"? Based on this review, it sounds like Apple might be one who blew it (for this application anyway).

Wasn't Jobs recently quoted as saying that if a device has a stylus "they blew it"? Based on this review, it sounds like Apple might be one who blew it (for this application anyway).

If a device has a stylus to control everything on the device, then yes, they blew it. But certain applications could benefit from a stylus such as drawing/painting...just as you would use a brush/pencil/whatever to make art in the "real world"...else everyone would just fingerpaint everything.

Not sure these apps in this review would benefit from a stylus though.

... Lastly, for productivity in general, it doesn't look like you can scrapbook documents, web pages, and so on for a project (systemwide Evernote- or Onenote-type journaling). I find this lack of functionality weird, because the iPad could be such a great device for research.

'systemwide' might not gell with the Finder-less OS, but there's an app for that ...